About the Festival

The mission of the Charleston Wine + Food, a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is to enhance Charleston's culinary reputation and support important charitable endeavors by focusing national attention on the entertainment, education and gastronomical gratification opportunities presented by world class culinary professionals and wine experts.

Charitable Initiatives Our Team Board of Directors Get Involved Committees Poster History Volunteer

Charleston Wine + Food

• Charity:

  • to raise significant funds for charities and scholarships.

• Education:

  • for the general consumer, to elevate the skills and culinary knowledge and for culinary students, to promote culinary traditions and to offer one-on-one networking and skill building opportunities

• Sustainability:

  • to sustain itself as an organization and to assist in sustaining the chef and restaurant community in the area

• Recognition:

  • to bring national and regional attention to the food scene in Charleston

Specifically for the Charitable Initiatives, the Festival will do the following:

• Direct Donations:

  • 2010 Signature Chairties Louie’s Kids and Slow Food Charleston
  • Scholarships at the Culinary Institute of Charleston, College of Charleston and the Art Institute of Charleston
  • Funds through Amuse Bouche for the Lowcountry Food Bank’s Kids Café program
  • Food donation from Festival events to Crisis Ministries

• Educational Efforts:

  • Better develop a mentor program completely managed by the Festival for any culinary student to be involved in and benefit from
  • Offer non-paid internships for college students to assist with the planning of the Festival

• Recognition and Promotions:

  • Promote culinary-related organizations at the Culinary Village and in various seminars and events throughout the weekend

Louie's Kids http://www.louieskids.org

Louie's Kids is a non-profit dedicated to the mission of fighting childhood obesity. Louie's Kids provides support solutions in cases where a child is in desperate need of behavioral, nutritional or specific one-on-one intervention due to being clinically obese (and specifically for families financially unable to pay for this support). Founded in 2001, Louie's Kids provide individualized solutions in the form of treatment for pediatric and adolescent obesity. Louie's Kids has developed an individualized program, Fit Club to address childhood obesity in Charleston and the surrounding communities. Fit Club was designed to provide a free obesity treatment program for low income youth who are already identified as obese.

With the charitable donations received from the 2010 BB&T Charleston Wine + Food Festival Louie's Kids plan to utilize the funds to directly benefit Charleston youth by implementing at least two more 4-month programs in Title I schools locally. For each youth, Fit Club has a program cost of $1,424 per participant for the 16 week program which covers all personnel costs, supplies, curricula, healthy snacks, equipment, and costs associated with the program. To learn more about Louie's Kids, volunteer or donate directly please visit their website.

Slow Food Charleston http:://www.slowfoodcharleston.org

Slow Food Charleston is the local chapter of Slow Food USA and Slow Food International. Slow Food is an eco-gastronomic non-profit organization with over 83,000 members worldwide and 20,000 members in the U.S.A. Slow Food Charleston has over 130 active members in the tri-county area. SFC offers educational events and activities to promote sustainability and biodiversity and connect farmers, chefs, educators, students, and everyone else who cares about their food and the environment. SFC advocates for good, clean, and fair food based on the principles of high quality and taste, environmental sustainability, and social justice.

SFC plans to utilize the charitable donations received from the BB&T Charleston Wine + Food Festival for its Time for Lunch initiative locally. This program supports creating organic public school gardens, focusing on at-risk populations. This program also involves creating programs that teach cafeteria staff in public schools to use fresh, local, and seasonal produce from the gardens as well as from local farmers. Additionally, SFC will utilize the donation to provide scholarships for local chefs and farmers to attend Terra Madre in the fall of 2010, the international Slow Food conference in Torino, Italy, so they can highlight our Lowcountry cuisine and bring back a new infusion of ideas from this world's largest gathering of food and wine producers, chefs, food academics, and farmers. To learn more about Slow Food Charleston or to donate directly, please visit its website.

The Art Institute of Charleston http://www.artinstitutes.edu/charleston

Founded in 2007, The Art Institute of Charleston is a branch campus of The Art Institute of Atlanta, which has a tradition of preparing students for careers by providing a challenging educational environment that responds to changing technologies and the needs of the marketplace. The Art Institute of Charleston is building on this proud tradition of commitment to students and to providing the creative and technical skills demanded by today’s employers.

The College of Charleston http://www.cofc.edu/

The College of Charleston is a nationally recognized, public liberal arts and sciences university located in the heart of historic Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770, the College is among the nation’s top universities for quality education, student life and affordability. The College offers a distinctive combination of a beautiful and historic campus, modern facilities and cutting-edge programs.

Crisis Ministries http://www.charelstonhomeless.org

Crisis Ministries provides food, shelter and hope to end homelessness and hunger one person at a time, one family at a time.

The Culinary Institute of Charleston http://www.tridenttech.edu/culinary_institute_of_charleston.htm

The Culinary Institute of Charleston provides a wide array of both credit and continuing education offerings to meet the diverse training needs of the tourism industry. The Institute's credit programs include TTC's existing associate degree, diploma and certificate programs in culinary arts, hospitality and tourism, as well as other advanced certification opportunities.

Lowcountry Food Bank http://www.lowcountryfoodbank.org

Our mission is to feed the poor and hungry of the ten coastal counties of South Carolina by soliciting and distributing healthy food and grocery products to nonprofit agencies serving the poor, and to educate the public about the problems of and solutions to domestic hunger. The Lowcountry Food Bank was founded in 1983 as a clearinghouse for donated food items through the generosity of both Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina and Trident United Way.